Open interest in crude oil futures extended the downtrend on Monday and dropped by around 3.9K contracts according to preliminary readings from CME Group. Volume, instead, increased by around 4.1K contracts after two consecutive daily pullbacks.

WTI seems to have entered a consolidative phase

Monday’s decent gains in prices of the WTI were amidst shrinking open interest and a small increase in volume and is indicative that the continuation of the rebound seems out of favour in the very near term. That said, the price action around the commodity could face some near-term consolidation around the $70.00 region for the time being.